On Thursday, Leader of Opposition in West Bengal Assembly Abdul Mannan proposed an alliance with the Indian Secular Front launched by Furfura Sharif cleric Abbas Siddiqui for the Assembly polls. In a letter addressed to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Mannan pointed out that minority voters have shifted away from the party which is evident from the 2019 Lok Sabha election. To buttress his point, he pointed out that Congress was uprooted in every Muslim-dominated Assembly segments of districts such as Malda, Murshidabad and Uttar Dinajpur.
Maintaining that the Bengali speaking Muslim population is the traditional vote bank of Congress, Mannan highlighted that the ISF is a threat to all “secular parties” as it wants to target the Muslims, Dalits, tribals and all the underprivileged sections of the society. According to him, Siddiqui is not only popular for his oratory skills among Muslims, Dalits and tribals but his meetings also draw lakhs of people. Urging the consent of the Congress high command, the Leader of Opposition in the WB Assembly opined that the addition of ISF in the Congress-Left alliance will be game-changer in the upcoming polls. The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC had swept the 2016 Assembly polls by bagging 211 seats in the 294-member Assembly.
Once considered a vocal supporter of the Trinamool Congress in the past, Abbas Siddiqui has been taking on the state government in the recent past. Launched on January 21, the ISF is expected to be a platform for Muslims, Dalits and Adivasis residing in West Bengal. Hinting that his party shall contest 294 seats in the state Assembly polls, the cleric has clarified that he will not personally fight the election. However, he has refused to categorically reveal whom he intends to ally with for the upcoming polls.
Incidentally, AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi has claimed that Abbas Siddiqui will be integral to his party’s plans in the Assembly election. Soon after Owaisi and a delegation of his party leaders met this influential cleric, WB CM Mamata Banerjee accused the AIMIM chief of furthering religious polarization in the state. As the Muslim population in WB can influence the fate of nearly 100-110 seats, TMC fears that erosion in this vote bank might benefit BJP.
